Time Stands Still
by Shwatsonlocked
Summary: UP FOR ADOPTION! Ichigo is hit with a kido and ends up in the past. In order to find out more, you have to read this. Pairings undetermined for now, but will have romance, action, and adventure. Please enjoy!
1. Prologue

**A/N**: I'm on a Bleach kick right now. I've got this story sketched out as to what I want to happen, but there's still room for reader opinion, suggestion, and I have some polls planned for in a few chapters. This is probably going to be a medium long story, so I hope that as I write this, you enjoy it and I also hope that I can improve my writing style. Not Beta-read. Written at three in the morning. If there are mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them.

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction for it. The fan fiction would be the canon.

**Time Stands Still**

**by: Noelani Aiko**

** started: August 30, 2009**

**edited: August 30, 2009  
**

Ichigo couldn't believe it. He was one second away from destroying Aizen for good and the bastard pulls a kido out of his ass. Looking back on it, Ichigo had to admit that as horrible as Aizen was, he was a genius.

_*FLASHBACK*_

"_Don't let him get away!" yelled Rukia, as Ichigo gave chase after a fleeing Aizen. _

_An annoying voice chimed in 'C'mon King! Can't ya move faster than tha'? _

'_Shut up Hichigo. I don't have time for this!' narrowing his brown-orange eyes, the Vaizard picked up some more speed. 'Three steps...' _

'_Two..'_

'_GOT YO...WHAT THE HELL!?' was all Ichigo had time to think as the blue kido struck him head on._

_*END FLASHBACK*_

Ichigo clenched his fist as he stood up to see where he was.

"A field. I'm in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere. Great. Honestly, this couldn't get any worse." As it always does, it proceeded to get worse as the sky turned gray with rain and Ichigo heard his stomach rumble like the thunder above.

"Damn it. Guess I better start walking." Ichigo was so busy trying to figure out where he was going, that he didn't notice the 71 sign laying on the side of the almost road he was on. If he had, he might have guessed he was in district 71 of the Rukongai district and saved himself some trouble by heading in another direction. As it is, Ichigo didn't notice the sign.

* * *

Ichigo looked down at his stomach. He had been walking for about ten hours and hadn't eaten since before the battle with Aizen. Then he felt around his borrowed yukata for change. He'd finally found some civilization but didn't have any money for food.  
'Grwllllllllllll' complained the berry's stomach.  
The young soul reaper shrugged. 'Guess I don't have a choice. I'm going to have to either kill someone for their food or just steal something.'  
Ichigo had already replaced his tattered shihakusho and figured that since his clothing trip had been successful, the strawberry decided he'd try his hand at stealing some food.  
The bright haired boy looked around to see if there was anyone to worry about before reaching out a snatching a loaf of bread. At that moment, the owner of the stand grabbed Ichigo's wrist with startling strength and called for the guards. Soon, three uniformed men arrived and started to drag Ichigo away.

'Ya know what King? Life with you is always entertainin' drawled Hichigo. The so-called King could just envision the smirk that accompanied that statement.

The boy turned soul reaper was tossed none too gently into a bare cell.

"Think long and hard about what happens when you still, boy. If you're lucky, you'll only loose that arm o' yours." The guard grinned maliciously at Ichigo before stalking off.

Ichigo resisted the temptation to hit his head on the wall. "Yeah. Definitely couldn't get any worse now"

* * *

Hope you liked this little intro and that you'll stick with me while we see what happens with Ichigo. The next chapter will be longer, I promise! Feedback is wanted/welcome/appreciated!


	2. Don't Fear the Reaper

A/N: ATTENTION! IF YOU HADN'T REREAD CHAPTER ONE, DO SO! I EDITED SOMETHING THAT *BLACK SUN UPON AN ICY SKY WAS KIND ENOUGH TO POINT OUT. Alright, now for chapter two. This one is hopefully a bit more organized than my last chapter. There's quite a bit of interaction between some OC's this chapter, but it's important. I hope you find them somewhat interesting. Thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts. Anywho, enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it. The fanfiction would be the canon.

Format Key:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

*_Flashback*_

_'__**Hichigo talking/ Zangetsu talking'**_

**Time Stands Still**

**by: Noelani Aiko**

**Don't Fear the Reaper  
**

Ichigo stared blankly up at the top of his cell room.

"Oi, Hollow. You there?"

'_**No.'**_ Ichigo could hear his other half give a faint snicker to accompany the lie.

"Any ideas how to get us out of here? Zangetsu disappeared after I got hit by Aizen's kido, so I can't just force my way out. Did you know there are 106 stones on the ceiling?" The hungry soul reaper babbled.

'_**Wow King. At the rate your mind is goin', I'll be able ta' take over easy. As for gettin' out of here, you have a visitor. Later King'**_ remarked Hichigo. The hollow was very amused, but he also really wanted to get out of jail. 'One prison is enough.'

Letting the insult slide, Ichigo sat up. 'Visitor? Who'd visit me here?'

Two sets of footsteps echoed in the hallway. As the guard on duty turned the corner to Ichigo's cell, a white haori over black shihakusho also appeared.

* * *

Sato Noburu had been having a pleasant day. The breeze was lightly ruffling his purple-black hair and he didn't have anywhere to be. Deciding it was the perfect day for a walk, Noburu donned his captain's haori, left the office and headed toward the Rukongai's gate.

'Where to go, where to go. Oooh...maybe I'll visit Micha-chan's shop in district 71. She makes the best tea in the whole Soul Society!'

With a small smile plastered on his boyish face, Noburu flash-stepped away.

Ten minutes later, Sato was sipping away at a delicious jasmine mango tea when he overheard two off duty guards discussing the newest prisoner of the local jail.

The bigger of the two guards had a short beard and was speaking in a gravelly voice.

"Yeah, kid's a weird one alright. He had bright orange hair and was wearing that yukata Old Man Fuji reported when I caught him stealing. You'll never guess what I was thinking at first though Saki. I was getting ready to grab him and I thought I felt a spark or something leap at my hand, like the kid's a soul reaper or something."

"If you think he might be a soul reaper, why'd you arrest him Towa?" the lithe guard asked.

"If he were a soul reaper, he wouldn't need to be stealing bread in the Rukongai, now would he? You know, sometimes I think you're pretty dim."

Saki pushed his chair back violently and started to yell "Oh yeah!? Well I think you're always dumb!" The guard poured his hot tea on his partner, and proceeded to get a black eye.

Out of the corner of his eye, Noburu noticed a short woman making her way over to the brawling pair. Hands on her hips, Yajiru Micha stared for a second before grabbing the guards by their hair and throwing them out the window.

Brushing her hands together, the brunette yelled "AND IF YOU COME BACK AGAIN, I'LL HAVE YOUR HIDES FOR TEA STRAINERS!"

The blue eyed captain couldn't resist a chuckle. Micha was a scary woman, but her business was very popular. Besides, the kid the guards were talking about sounded like he might have some spirit power.

Hearing familiar laughter, Micha turned and, to her delight, saw one of her favorite customers. "Sato-kun! Oh dear, how are you feeling? You haven't been battling too many piles of paperwork have you? Oh my...I'm just full of questions. Would you like some fruit? Emi, get me some fruit will you please!"

Laughing again, Sato gestured to the chair. "Please join me, Micha-chan. And how many times must I remind you to call me Noburu?"

"Sorry, No-bu-ru-kun, but I get so flustered that I forget." Micha leaned back in her chair.

"I'm fine by the by, there isn't too much paperwork that I can't handle. My lieutenant is very efficient when it comes to helping in the office. How's business?"

One of the waitresses brought over a platter of fresh peaches and strawberries. Taking a strawberry, Micha waved her hand and replied "Oh business is fine, it's fine. So what brings you to the Rukongai today? I noticed that what those guards were saying has caught your attention."

"I see you haven't lost any of your skills from being in the thirteen court guard squads, Micha. Yes, I am quite interested in whoever it is that's been arrested. Do you happen to know anything?" Noburu cocked his left eyebrow.

Looking around, the ex-soul reaper leaned in to whisper "I don't know much, but my spies tell me that he looked starved and had a few recent injuries that look to be from a battle. He's tall, lithely muscled, has bright orange spiky hair, and brown eyes. Besides that, no-one knows anything else about him. He just showed up and was caught stealing. 71 is a pretty close district, so we know newbies when we see 'em. I'm telling you, that kid didn't look like he came from anywhere in the Rukongai."

"Well it was great seeing you again Micha-chan, but I think it's high time I left. I'll be back sometime soon, promise." Standing up, Sato turned to the door.

"You better come back and see me, or I'll have to track you down. Try not to cause any trouble either." Micha gave a little wave and went back to the kitchen of her store.

'Let's see...the local jail is three blocks west of here. At least I hope it is.' the captain put his arms behind his head and headed west out of the tea shop.

* * *

Ichigo looked into an unfamiliar face. The person was smiling at him in a way that reminded him of old hat and clogs, like he _knew_ everything about him just by looking.

"Hello, my name is Sato Noburu and I am the Captain of the fifth division in the thirteen court guard squads. What's your name, friend?"

'Wait...FIFTH SQUAD CAPTAIN!? THERE SHOULDN'T BE A FIFTH SQUAD CAPTAIN! Okay Kurosaki, don't panic. You'll figure this out.' Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "How do I know you're a friend?" he asked cautiously.

"Um...you don't." the other man laughed. "But I'm really not here to hurt you. In fact, I have an offer to make you. So, what's your name kid?"

Ichigo's mind went into panic mode again. 'To lie or not to lie.'

"Ichigo. My name is Ichigo."

"Nice meeting you Ichigo-kun. I'm here to invite you to join the Soul Reaper Academy. I can see that you've got some spiritual power, and the academy would be a better place to be than this jail cell, eh?"

Ichigo stood up and shook out his yukata. "Alright, I'm in."

* * *

A/N: I was going to have more, but after staring at it for a few days, I only had writer's block. I'm going to put up a poll of possible pairings on my profile, so go vote! XD Thanks for reading.


	3. Second Chance

**A/N:** *Gets down on hands and knees* I'm sorry this took so long. First I was taking longer to do some detailed detailed planning for the story, then I had (and still do X_X) a lot of stuff to do for school. And then I got sick, on top of dislocating my toe. I also am guilty of being distracted by playing Scribblenauts, which is an amazing game XD. Thanks for all the reviews!

I have also decided that for the most part I will use the English translations for things, like soul power, but I will keep the honorifics when they are used. I will also bounce between soul reaper and shinigami, merely for varieties sake. Shun-po, Sonido, and Hirenkyaku will stay in original form because calling all of them flash step would offend the pride of the Quincy and anger the Arrancar. Zanpaktou are zanpaktou and other things that can't be translated will stay in the original form. Thank you, that is all. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it. The fanfiction would be the canon.

Format Key:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts' _'Inner World Thoughts'_

*_Flashback*_

'_**Hichigo talking/ **_**Zangetsu talking**_**'**_

**Time Stands Still**

**by: Noelani Aiko**

**Second Chance  
**

Ichigo was finishing putting on his blue academy uniform when someone decided to use his door as a drum-set. "It's open!" Ichigo shouted

"You ready for the test today Ichigo?" asked a young Iba Tetsuzaemon.

Ichigo grabbed his zanpaktou from his futon and smirked. "More ready than you are!"

Iba smirked at the challenge. "Lower score has to supply the sake tonight."

The two shook hands and headed out of the dorm to the testing fields.

While walking in silence with Iba, Ichigo started thinking about everything that had happened over the past few months.

_ *THREE MONTHS PRIOR*_

"Alright, I'm in."

The purple haired shinigami turned toward the guard. "Go ahead and let him out."

"But he's a-" the guard on duty trailed off as the smiling Sato got a sharp look in his eyes.

As soon as Ichigo was free, the happy captain put an arm around the berry's shoulder.

"Let's go get some food. I'm starved!"

Twenty minutes later, Ichigo's stomach was singing praises to the food gods. Over the meal, the wary Ichigo was telling an altered version of his arrival to his new...friend.

"...and I tried to shun-po, but ended up flat on my face."

Noburu nodded thoughtfully. "It sounds like you've had you spiritual energy drained. It'll take some time before it comes back, so just take it easy. Not too easy though, the academy will be hard work. Are you ready to head over? You'll need to take the entrance exam and if you need a surname, you can use mine Ichigo-kun! We can be like family." Sato grinned widely across the table.

'_**Hey King...does he remind you of-'**_

'_Urahara. Yeah. Kinda creepy too. Now get out'_

'_**But I can' get out King. Unless you're offerin' your control up...'**_ Hichigo drawled suggestively.

"NO!"

"Oh you don't have to use my name of course, Ichigo. It was just a suggestion."

Ichigo blanched. "Sorry Noburu-san. I got lost in thought. I'd be honored to be part of your family."

In Ichigo's inner world, Hichigo was rolling on the sideways skyscrapers. _**'Too...funny!'**_the hollow wheezed.

One of these days, he was going to kill that sorry excuse for a hollow.

* * *

After arriving at the academy, Ichigo was situated in a testing room. Slouching in the small desk, the orange-head realized that while Hichigo was making too much of a presence, old-man Zangetsu had been awfully quiet.

Slipping into his inner world, Ichigo looked around and called out. _'Hey Zangetsu, you still in charge in here?'_

'_**Sorry King. Old Man's taking a vacation. What can I do ya for?'**_

'_You can shut-up, horse. If I wasn't getting ready to take an exam, I'd bash your face in.'_

'_**Aw, where's the love, Berry-tan? You wound my Hollow heart.' **_Hichigo bemoaned.

While Ichigo was glaring at his hollow, a stately woman with two inch rimmed glasses had entered the testing room. "Sato Ichigo, I presume?"

Ichigo snapped back to reality. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. This part of the entrance exam is written. You will have one hour." The examiner seemed to glare over her glasses before she turned and left the room.

'Alright. Number one. List your knowledge of hollows.' Ichigo almost grinned. This would be too easy.

Ichigo jotted down his answers to the questions, moving on down the sheet. When he reached the end, the substitute shinigami had ten minutes left, so Ichigo just lay his head on the desk. The glasses lady came back the second the hour was up to collect his test.

Test in hand, she turned to the door. "Follow me young man."

The proctor led him to an open room with other shinigami hopefuls.

"This is the hoho test. It will test your agility, so be quick. Good luck" Surprisingly, the strict looking woman smiled at him before leaving. As soon as the door closed, the lights flickered and plunged the testers into dark.

A few of the females, plus one who sounded like a burly male, screamed. Two minutes later, the lights returned and the room was now a huge obstacle course. Ichigo looked at each apparent stage of the course, noting the kido nets set up between poles at the middle of the test. "Looks like we're going to be jumping around on those things."

"Welcome to the second test. My name is Kuukaku Shiba and I'll be testing you wimps on how well you can dodge." Kuukaku grinned like a maniac.

Ichigo couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. It wasn't just the fact that Shiba-san was the examiner, but rather that she still had two arms.

Grabbing a list from an assistant, the Shiba woman began to read the instructions for the test.

"Okay. For all you newcomers, the point is to try to get to the end of the course. Failing that, we'll have been watching you carefully to determine what level of training you would need. Do your best! Now, first up is Asuhara Miyako."

A tall, confident brunette stepped up to the start line. Kuukaku rang a gong and Asuhara ran into the mini forest part of the obstacle course. Three minutes later, the gong rang again. Shiba called another name, and another, some making it to the next course, others not even getting through the forest. a lucky few had made it to the end of the test.

"Sato Ichigo!"

Ichigo walked into the forest cautiously. 'What's making all these students fail? Is there someone ambushing them?'

'_**Hey King...you might wanna...'**_

Ichigo nearly missed having an anvil drop on his head from the trees limbs above.

"WHAT THE FUCK!? That's it, I'm getting out of here." The strawberry rushed out of the anvil forest and to the jumping poles. Ichigo climbed the ladder provided and got ready to start leaping along the poles. From the sidelines, balls of kido started launching toward the shinigami, who was mid leap. Ichigo twisted in midair and landed on one pole before launching for the next.

* * *

He was untouchable. Every other soul that had made it to this stage had been hit at least once. Whoever this kid was, he was gonna be good. Kuukaku made a note on the exam sheet for Sato Ichigo. 'There's something wrong though. He's moving like he's already been trained, but is holding back. Maybe...yeah, I'll use that.' The fireworks specialist motioned for her assistant.

Kuukaku whispered her instructions. "Go get Test B and have it ready in forty-five seconds."

Nodding, her assistant flash-stepped away to prepare the special test.

'Let's see what you can really do, Sato'

* * *

The last stage of test was a kido enlarged room with nothing in it but another door at the end. The floor was made up of tiles. Ichigo walked forward two tiles, but the next he started to step on began wobbling before falling out. The shinigami was testing the next tile when a slot in one of the walls opened and a target-seeking missile was set loose.

Ichigo began dashing toward the door at top speed and without notice, began to shun-po. Sometime during the test he had recovered enough soul power to use the technique, and made it through the door, slamming it shut just as the rocket hit.

* * *

**A/N:** I decided to stop here...because it's a good cliffhanger and because I don't have time to finish this chapter until after November 6th. So, I hope you enjoyed the uber late update and don't kill me. Review and answer the poll on my profile while I work on the next chapter!


	4. Welcome to the Masquerade

**A/N:** What's this? An update? Don't expect another one for a couple weeks now. I've procrastinated my paper enough. ^^;

I want to thank all the alerts and favorites, and I really appreciate those that took the time to drop a line in that review box. You all make my day XD I was intent on finishing this chapter before I started my paper...not that needed too much convincing lol. Enjoy the chapter!

**This is dedicated to Black Sun Upon An Icy Sky for being so awesome and contributing a line of Shiro's. Next chapter dedicated to the first person to guess which of his lines it was XD**

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Bleach, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it. The fanfiction would be the canon.

Format Key:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts' _'Inner World Thoughts'_

*_Flashback*_

'_**Hichigo talking/ **_**Zangetsu talking**_**'**_

**Time Stands Still**

**by: Noelani Aiko**

**Welcome to the Masquerade  
**

_Ichigo began dashing toward the door at top speed and without notice, began to shun-po. Sometime during the test he had recovered enough soul power to use the technique, and made it through the door, slamming it shut just as the rocket hit. _

_

* * *

_

Shiba Kuukaku watched as the screen that was displaying the test area clouded over as the missile exploded, and then looked up at the shinigami wanna-be that had just slammed the room's door. She couldn't believe that kid had just flash stepped out of the room. Saving her shock for later, the woman rang the gong next to her and called the next name on the list.

Soon enough, everyone had had their chance. The fireworks enthusiast, who honestly was an expert on the topic, stood to announce the next part of the entrance exam.

"Alright brats. It's time for your next test. Exit through the door to my right and wait for the next guy who's testin' you. Okay, get out of here!" With that, the abrasive Shiba turned and left to go talk to the other proctors. She'd be damned if Sato Ichigo didn't show the same type of results in his knowledge test as he did this one.

* * *

Ichigo took a few breaths and went to go stand back with the other testers. The berry wasn't too surprised by the missile when he remembered just who was running the exam. However, he had experienced a rush of joy when he started to shun-po.

'This means I'm getting my soul power back.' Ichigo couldn't help the smirk that accompanied the thought.

'_**Ichigo...can you-'**_

'_Old-man Zangetsu? Are you back?' _

No one answered his inquiry.

Before Ichigo could ask again, Kuukaku stood and told everyone to get out. Ichigo headed for the exit with the rest of the almost shinigami students, his brow in his trademark furrow. Outside was a clearing surrounded by trees, probably to help with fighting on different terrains.

They were immediately greeted by a silver blonde haired male who wore sea foam green hakama and an eye raping orange kosode. He also had a katana strapped to his back with a bright lemon yellow sash. He had to be color blind.

Shirosaki couldn't keep his opinion to himself. _**'An' I thought that feather-brained gay idiot was fashion retarded, but that tops everythin'.' **_

'For once I agree with you.' Ichigo continued to stare at the man.

The man spoke in a smooth baritone. "My name is Kazuma and I'll be testing your zanjutsu. Go pick a practice sword and I'll come by and pair you up."

The sword Ichigo chose was close to the weight and length of Tensa Zangetsu, so he relaxed into the familiarity of the sword. The orange head was paired with a tall, muscular guy that looked like he spent most of his time fighting. Ichigo disarmed his opponent five seconds after the whistle to begin blew. The defeat didn't even register on the other testers face before the proctor was standing in front of Ichigo.

Kazuma was holding a practice sword of his own and everyone had stopped their own matches to stare. "I want you to fight me. What's your name?"

"Ichigo. Sato Ichigo." Ichigo needed to be careful not to show off too much. Noburu told him to be keep it low key.

"All right Sato. Take your stance and on the whistle." The whistle blew again and the test battle began. Where the color blind proctor would stab, Ichigo would block and follow through with a slash. Two trained swordsmen were fighting, and they were just warming up.

* * *

Oshiro Kazuma leveled his sword at the spiky haired kid after a few hits. "You're not new to this, obviously, but let's see how good you really are." Kazuma used shun-po to retreat into a nearby tree and watched Sato.

'He doesn't look too confused that I'm not there. Maybe it's time to end this.' The proctor flash stepped to Ichigo's right side, swinging his sword down, when the target disappeared. Stunned, he turned too late to see the blow that knocked him out of the air. 'What the hell is he trying to enter the academy for? He should already BE a shinigami!'

* * *

After landing safely on the ground, Ichigo felt a little winded from the shun-po. 'I must have less power back then I thought. Got to keep that in mind then. Man, I really need to learn how to tell this stuff first. Stupid Ishida and his friggin' control.'

Kazuma stood up, brushing dirt off his bright clothing. "Finish your matches. You've still got to go test for kido."

* * *

Bodies. There were bodies everywhere. Never-mind the fact that they were just dummies, but how many did the examiners think they needed for the kido test?

"Welcome to the Kido test. I am Hirano Chieko." The crowd jumped as one. No-one had heard her come in.

The woman continued, and Ichigo noticed she was the strict glasses woman who had given him his written exam. Nice to put a name with a face.

"You will each have three opportunities to perform Bakudo One: Restrain. This will paralyze your opponent by forcing their arms behind their back. There is no incantation, you will only need to focus a bit of your spiritual power into the act. We shall start at the top of the list. Asuhara Miyako, you may proceed."

There were a lot of successes by the third try. Some hadn't gotten any reaction due to not knowing how to focus their reiatsu. Ichigo belongs to another group of results. He could concentrate too much spiritual power at a time.

"Bakudo One: Restrain!" BOOM! The spell had blown up the dummy and the ones close to it.

Try two wasn't any better.

"Bakudo One: Restrain!" Dummy section two also went BOOM!

His fellow test takers now had a healthy dose of fear of Sato Ichigo, because clearly, if he didn't beat you in a fight, he'd just kill you with his terrible kido. They huddled together a reasonable distance away as the monster tried for the last time.

"BAKUDO ONE: RESTRAIN!" The rest of the dummies were demolished.

Ichigo could hear more of Hichigo's wheezing laugh in his inner world.

'_**Oh wow King!'**_ More laughter. _**'Just use this on Kenpachi next time he chases you for a fight!' **_

'_I'll use it on you, how about that?'_

Shiro sobered up enough to respond. _**'No, I'll pass. Thanks for offerin' and all.'**_

Hirano had an assistant bring out more dummies for the rest to finish the test. Afterwards, the shinigami hopefuls sat in a waiting area for about three hours. Then the results were finally ready and everyone got their own personalized copy.

"Each test has different placement results. The number is what year level you're in for that skill and if you have an A next to that as well, you are in the Advanced Class. Year four is as high as you can go until you have either successfully communicated with your Zanpaktou spirit or you have satisfied the study required to move on. If you aren't on the list, try again next year."

Ichigo's results were mostly year four, advanced class. Kido had placed him in year one and also recommended he take the spiritual awareness and concentration class. The berry's eye twitched.

'Great...more kido.'

Other then that, he had Advanced Zanjutsu year four, which specialized in beginning communication with Zanpaktou, Advanced Hoho year four, and Advanced Hakuda year four, which was unarmed fighting.

When he finished looking over his new schedule, a shinigami student arrived to lead the new students to the dorms.

"Boys are in the left wing, girls on in the right. Names are on the doors,the bath house is the first building north of here and the cafeteria is on the first level through the sliding panel with a crane on it. You'll find your uniform inside your room and sleep well because the welcome ceremony is tomorrow. If you have any questions, my name is Hoshimura Jungo and I'm at the end of the hall!"

Ichigo located his room quickly, and flopped down on the futon, falling asleep immediately.

* * *

Tea-colored eyes glared defiantly at the window. There was no way it was time to get up.

Ichigo's stomach began to growl menacingly. Okay, maybe it was time to get up.

Ichigo pushed himself off the futon and grabbed his new uniform and headed outside to find the bathhouse. Ichigo was enjoying his bath when his stomach growled again. Ichigo looked at his stomach and glared at it.

'_**You better get somethin' to eat King, your stomach's interruptin' my beauty sleep.' Shiro grumbled.**_

Ichigo was not in a good enough mood to put up with his Hollow today, not that he ever really put up with his other half. _'When will you just go away? Go become part of a building or something.'_

'_**You'd miss me. You love me King, no need to deny but I'm goin' back to sleep now.' The Hollow grinned before he rolled over in his window futon.**_

Reluctantly, the vizard got out of the bath and dressed before he went back to the dorm building to grab some food. Ichigo grabbed some onigiri and some sort of steamed vegetable and chose a small table. A kido projected voice announced that the welcoming ceremony would begin in ten minutes in the courtyard. He finished the rest of his food and followed the masses out to the courtyard.

'Wonder what they're going to tell us.'

A shinigami wearing a black haori with white trim, the inverse of the captain haori's, stood in front of the crowd. "Welcome to the Soul Reaper Academy. Here you will study the shinigami arts and then join the thirteen court guard squads to protect Soul Society and grant rest to souls. We are pleased to welcome you to our ranks in the human year of 1801. It takes an average of six years to graduate from the academy, so work hard and make us proud."

'...'

'Did he just say...1801?'

* * *

**A/N:** There, the big reveal. Now you all know just how far back Ichigo has been blasted to. I had to do a lot of pre-planning, like chart upon chart of who I think became a captain/vice-captain when etc. It's was confusing, but I think it'll be worth it.

Please review to let me know what you think, and if you haven't already, don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile for the pairing!

Don't forget to guess which line of Shiro's was not mine!


	5. Adopt Me? Important AN Not a chapter

To my dear readers. I'm really sorry, but I've decided to stop writing for this story.

As of late, Bleach no longer holds enough of my interest. If anyone would like to take up the mantle, just send me an e-mail with a sample of writing and where you would go with it this story. I still really feel connected to the idea of Time Stands Still as well as the characters I created and only want the best for it, which is why I would ask for that.

Again, I'm really sorry to all my watchers and reviewers. I'm so grateful for you! You've been great.

-Noerani Sato


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